Screenwriting Workshop 'Structure' Ben Slythe. The Lacuna Works

Transcription

1 Introduction to Screenwriting Screenwriting Workshop 'Structure' Ben Slythe The Lacuna Works

2 What is Screenwriting? Fiction Film Television Web Closely allied to playwriting and radio writing

3 How are movies made? - Theory Pre-production Write, plan, cast Production Shoot, re-shoot Post-production Edit, sell

4 How are movies made? - Practice Sell, cast, re-sell, budget, plan, write, shoot, edit, re-write, reshoot, re-edit, ADR voiceovers, shoot extra second-unit footage, force the editor to stop re-editing under threat of violence, meet lawyers, shoot lawyers, break leading actor out of rehab in time to deliver in screaming panic fifteen minutes before world premiere is held in a shed behind a Halfords in Milton Keynes

5 Screenwriting is different Structured Visual Collaborative Menu

6 Beginning screenwriting The hard way The easy way Homebrew The bits you can still do well...

7 The Basics What goes in Action Dialogue Parentheticals Descriptions Tone and texture notes

8 The Basics What doesn't go in Scene numbers Camera and direction notes Performance notes Timings Most of the parentheticals you've just added...

9 The Basics Standard format Single sided Courier font Agreed layout for different textual elements Agreed arrangements to make reading the script easier

10 The Basics Standard format INT. WORKSHOP DAY People attending a screenwriting workshop stare at Ben, enraptured. BEN There's a reason for the standard format. (beat) Timing.

11 The Basics Standard format A feature film is: 100 pages 100 minutes 100 sleepless nights The standard format allows for estimates of shooting times

12 The Basics - Standard format 100 pages 1 minute per page Act 1 15 pages Act 2 70 pages Act 3 15 pages

13 The Basics Short films A short film is, er, shorter One act in length Act 2, usually 3 Minutes of Torture Tonal

14 The Basics Television Parallel structure Storylines The weird inflexibility of the internet web-series and what it says about the broader human condition and the end of civilisation

15 The Basics - Writing action Henry sitting in his room. Opposite him sits Jimmy. JIMMY Me family name, you said it stood for something.

16 The Basics - Writing action HENRY Not convinced you stand for anything. JIMMY No, but me name, Fitzroy, it means sommat?

17 The Basics - Writing action HENRY Son of the King. Fitzroy means son of the King. JIMMY Me? Don't sound much like me.

18 The Basics Writing action HENRY (silently agreeing) Just a name. JIMMY How about me given name?

19 The Basics Writing action HENRY (smirking) Yeah, that one fits you. JIMMY What's it mean?

20 The Basics Writing action HENRY A jimmy is a blunt tool used for breaking things.

21 The Basics Writing action What parts of that scene are the 'action'? The words? The bit where it said 'smirking'? The bit where it said they were sitting opposite each other?

22 The Basics Writing action No Action is what the characters do and have done to them directly Description Parenthetical Dialogue

23 The Basics Writing action Action is the part of the screenplay that involved the entire production team, the cast and crew It is the most important part of the script

24 The Basics Dialogue The most important way for the writer to reach the audience Only the actor stands between you and the person in seat K23

25 The Basics Dialogue Three roles in the script Explanation Character Context

26 The Basics Annotation Descriptions Instructions to the entire crew Parentheticals Instructions to the actors The beat

27 The Basics Annotation GENERAL SMITH Mr. President. The terrorists have told us what they want. A live broadcast. PRESIDENT Ah, no.

28 The Basics Annotation GENERAL SMITH Mr. President. The terrorists have told us what they want. A live broadcast. PRESIDENT Ah, (beat) No.

29 Storytelling The corny voiceover In a world where love was a crime, one woman stood up! Now... Hunted by the authorities she must find a way...

30 Storytelling The corny voiceover (cont.) To rescue her man and save her city. Structured story, if a terrible one

31 Storytelling Exercise 1: Write a Trailer Voiceover. In a world where... Now... To... Corny and derivative voiceovers for well known movies.

32 Structure Poetics Campbell The monomyth The hero's journey Field The 3-act structure

33 The 3-Act Structure 1.The setup at home doing my work then the call 2.The complexities working out how to overcome the problems 3.The denouement having a good evening

34 The 3-Act Structure Three elements Something kicks off the narrative A point where the story hinges How the tale ends

35 The 3-Act Structure 1.Tree the characters 2.Throw rocks at them 3.They get themselves down

36 The 3-Act Structure 1.[Person] wants [thing] 2.but [obstacles] make him [evolve] 3.finally [denouement]

37 The 3-Act Structure Two moments Instigating event Denouement

38 Hélène Back Again Exercise 2: Find the instigating event and denouement Try not to force the story to fit. Need a reminder of the plot?

39 Hélène Back Again Plot: Childhood in England Move to Cannes War Invasion Vichy France Recruited by Allies Training Resistance work German annexation D-Day Betrayed Arrested Tortured Executed Honoured

40 The First Act - Description Establish the mundane Establish the rules Explain why the instigating event matters Show the goals Instigate

41 The Second Act - Description Complexities Get us to the denouement The hero's journey Axis

42 The Third Act - Description Denouement Aftermath Entirely interchangeable

43 Pivoting the Acts Exercise 3: Pick a film and retell the third act to a different end. Must leave the second act unchanged. Must plausibly fit the existing acts.

44 Scenes Container for script elements Single unbroken timeline or Single unbroken location or Both

45 Scenes Split the story with gaps of arbitrary time Split the location with gaps of arbitrary distance Split the tone Shoot in controlled settings

46 Montage Sergei Eisenstein A narrative sequence of shots Controlled by the director

47 And back to Scenes Scenes are the writer's montage and serve the same purpose The most heavily edited part of the screenplay

48 Thank you bythelens.org Tracks Screenwriting 101 Ben Slythe thelacunaworks.co.uk